Posted tagged ‘premiums’

The best thing about a small target of high-potential customers is that marketers can afford to spend more money on them. In fact, they better, because everyone else is trying to reach them too. If your customer doesn’t have something different to say, and a different way of presenting their offer, the mailing will get quickly tossed aside.

That’s why elusive, premium prospects are perfect candidates for three-dimensional packages. So put on your creative hat for a few minutes, and let’s look at how you can make dimensional packages pay off for you and your customers.

Why Dimensional Packages Work.

One of the big challenges in moving up the prospect food chain is getting marketing materials past the admin-assistant gatekeepers. The odds of a postcard or self-mailer making the cut are pretty slim. And electronic alternatives such as email are almost unthinkable unless there is a preexisting personal relationship.

What you need is a package that looks personal and stands out from everything else that hits an executive’s desk—or tries to. A box, a tube or other dimensional package that comes personally addressed to the executive, along with a really good headline, is very likely going to get opened. Human curiosity gets the best of all of us, no matter what position we hold. And everyone likes something that seems like a present.

So How Can You Miss?

Easily. Dimensional packages might seem like no brainers (How can you fail with a cushy budget, right?), but just the opposite is true. They need lots of thought and solid creativity to work effectively. To avoid a disaster, let’s look at the two main ways that marketers bring dimensional doom upon themselves:

Getting caught up in clever. Dimensional campaigns can go down the tubes (no pun intended) just like the entertaining TV commercials that people like but then don’t buy the product. Remember that there’s a business point to be made, and it can’t get totally lost in the fun.

None the less, a dimensional mailer is a big opportunity to be creative. Just remember that your customer still needs to make a case for people wanting to do business with them. It’s your job to help them out if you truly embrace the role of advisor.

Coming across as a bribe. This can be a really fine and dangerous line, but encourage your clients to error on the side of caution. My personal guideline is $25. As soon as someone perceives the contents to be inappropriately expensive for a promotion, the campaign is in trouble. Sometimes it’s best to stick with things that relate directly to the marketer’s business.

Let’s use an example from the printing industry. I developed a dimensional package campaign for a major printer that wanted to reach marketing executives in different sectors. The campaign was multi-stage and went out during the summer with a “grilling” theme. Sales reps got to pick a certain number of prospects that were high potential but contact resistant. Here’s how the program worked:

Prospects received three envelope mailings over a short period of time with each consisting of a personalized letter and a one-page case history appropriate to the market and service being promoted. The mailings also included a favorite grill recipe from an executive at the printing company, including a picture of the person and a little personal history behind the recipe.

The final mailing came in a box set and included the popular How to Grill cookbook by Steven Raichlen, a product the printer also happened to print and distribute for its publisher client. So the campaign offered a little fun, came across as executive-to-executive and included a useful tie-in premium that demonstrated the printer’s capability. It also was dynamite at getting the attention of difficult-to-reach executives without overstepping the gift-value component.

Are Dimensional Mailers Strictly for Business-to-Business?

Most are, but that’s primarily a function of being able to more easily whittle down a target in the business sector. But again, dimensional mailers are all about creativity, so don’t necessarily think they’re out of the question for consumer marketers.

A quick, simple example is the Republic of Tea catalog, which always includes (or at least mine does) a sample tea packet attached to the cover. It gives the catalog a third dimension, puts it at the top of the pile and gets people to try teas they might never have bought otherwise.

Companies with high-ticket products are also obvious candidates. Manufacturers of luxury automobiles and other premium products can afford to spend more on customer acquisition and have smaller target audiences.

The Time for Dimensional Packages Has Never Been Better?

Although it might sound contradictory, slow economies are ideal for dimensional packages. They force clients to do the all-important database work and follow up, help them stand out even more as their competitors cut back on marketing expenditures and tend to have much higher ROI than conventional direct mail and other marketing efforts.

Like this:

You can create a buzz with dimensional packages, to say nothing of generating valuable leads. Here’s how to ensure that recipients will not only open a dimensional package, but will open it first.

Do

Put something inside that is valuable, fun—or preferably both.

Make the sales message simple, to the point and easy to find.

Use a parcel delivery service rather that the USPS, if possible.

Tie the contents into what you are selling, though you don’t always need to be literal—copy can make a strong tie-in.

Use a standard size box if you want to minimize costs.

Think beyond paperboard if you have the budget and really want to stand out—try wood or fabric, for instance.

Incorporate other channels—a pURL or a QR Code on an enclosure can add more involvement and personalization.

Demand accountability from the sales force—involve them as much as possible.

Don’t

Use a dimensional package with the intention of closing a sale—it’s a lead generator.

Make the contents so expensive they look like a bribe, though you can get by with a bit more if your target is owners of independent businesses.

Think that boxes are your only alternative—tubes as well as lumpy mailings or sturdy, gusseted envelopes can also work.

Get lost in cleverness at the expense of an action-generating message.

Do anything that would make your package look potentially dangerous or prankish.

Forget to use a stringent pre-qualification process—dimensional mailers are too expensive to waste.

Send more mailers than your team can follow-up with promptly.

By Larry Bauer

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